Weird!

Reading Florence's blog, she did this thing about listing 6 weird things about you that nobody knows. Never one to overlook a good idea, I think I'll try this out. Feel free to do this yourself on your blog, if you have one...

1. When I tie my shoes, I still do the two rabbit ears thing. I remember being shown as a kid, that there's a way to tie shoes by doing one rabbit ear, and then twisting the other lace around it in some magical way, but I can't for the life of me remember what it is. I always feel a bit kid-like when I tie my shoes because of that...

2. When I was in school (elementary through late High School), I had this thing that I couldn't be friends with people outside of the year I was in. I don't know where it came from, but until really late in high school, like during Senior year, I really didn't have friends outside of my own class. Sure, there were people I talked to in class who were not in my year, but that was about it. During Senior year, mainly through my friend Brian, I got to be close to people outside of my year. Then, in college, most of my close friends ended up being in the year ahead of me, or the year behind me. Oh, how times change.

3. While I really enjoy the company of people, I think I can go long stretches of time without human contact, with little to no problem. Maybe it's from living on my own from 1994-2001, but there were some weekends (especially when I was living in Vermont) where I realized I would go a whole weekend without speaking to another human being. I think part of it is because my job is pretty much totally about talking and relating to other humans, that when I get some time off, sometimes disengaging is a good way to recharge my batteries.

I am trying to be better now in staying in contact with friends, without being overwhelming. We'll see how that works. With this job, I don't have to pay for long distance, so if you want me to give you a call, just say the word!

4. I have a thing about litter. I mean, I *truly* dislike it. It annoyed me when I lived in New England, because if you live in a pretty area, why litter? And I dislike it here, because if you're living in an urban area, wouldn't you want to do everything you could to keep it neat? This leads into number 5, which is...

5. Sometimes I really don't see why people think differently than I do. I mean, we're all the center of our own universes in some way, but I can't imagine people doing truly stupid things, without realizing they're stupid. This is one reason why I could never really write anything that was satisfying to me, as a piece of narrative fiction. I always found it difficult to have characters do things that weren't "right," or "good," because it's almost impossible for me to concieve of someone not realizing that they're making a bad decision. When I'm talking to students sometimes, I want to say, "Don't you get that this is a bad idea? How can you not see that?"

And it's not just because I'm "older and wiser," I thought this way back in elementary school. Either I was tremendously advanced, or I haven't grown mentally since then...

6. If I don't like someone, I can totally ignore them in the presence of other people, and not feel the least bit bad about it. I first realized this in college, when my friend Joe pointed it out to me. Or maybe Brian and I talked about it in High School. If I didn't like someone, I really wouldn't harass them or anything, but I could really just tune them out entirely. If I was directly addressed by the person, I'd respond, but in the most limited, short fashion possible. Joe did say in college that it was great to watch, because I would be quite rude to people, and not think anything of it.

From my perspective, I thought I was being more polite, because I wasn't leading anyone on. If I liked you, I'd make fun of you forever, but it was all in fun. I wouldn't make fun of the people I didn't like, because then that would feel like I was picking on someone. And that's just not right in my book... But, from the outside, me poking fun at someone could look like I don't like them. But, nothing could be further from the truth...

For those of you out there, feel free to add any other weird things you know or remember about me. I'd be curious to see myself from the point of view of others...

Cheers!

NP: Pete Townshend - I Don't Know Myself